Charles Woodson happy Packers went with defense in draft

Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said Saturday night that he was happy the team upended its draft philosophy and loaded up on defensive players following the unit's poor play last year.

"There's always talk about Green Bay just drafting the best available player," Woodson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "But I think this year that tells you that that's not the case. We drafted what we needed. And we needed a whole of lot of help on defense. Anybody who watched our season last year understands that."

The Packers selected defensive players with their first six picks a season after giving up an NFL-worst 411.6 yards per game in 2011. The team took USC defensive end Nick Perry with its first-round pick and Michigan State defensive tackle Jerel Worthy in the second round.

"(General manager) Ted Thompson and (head coach) Mike McCarthy and our scouting department I think did a great job of bringing guys in that I think are going to help us right now," said Woodson, who was in Washington, D.C. for the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday evening.

"We hope we helped all aspects of defense," Thompson told The Associated Press. "Certainly, pass rush is a very vital thing in the National Football League because of the proliferation of the passing game."